St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-12-19
IT is BADLY MIXED.
No Applications in for the
One Thousand-Dollar Ii
cense in st. Paul.
When Will the High License
Go Into Effect, Under
the Laws?
Statues and Ordinances That
Are PuZzling All That Are
Concerned.
Possible Action of the Coun-
ell on the Mixed-Up
Mess.

years licenses expired Saturday night,
if it was supposed that the applications
were to be heard and the annual licenses
were to be issued on Jan. 2, and take
effect from that date. 1t has been limited
in several quarters that the lawyers and
big liquor men are endeavOring to have
the council take some action which
could carry the 800 licenses over
until June l. Whether the council
is to simply fail to take any action at all
on the license question by any INSULT
cheney of votes to pass the ordinance
contemplated, and fixing the amount in
compliance with the state law, or
whether an out and out resolution will
be adopted permitting the saloon keep
ers to go on doing business under their
present licenses until after the next an
nual election is not made definite. That
10 applications for licenses have yet
been made is fact, however, and
that the council has some kind
of an ordinance in view i'll relation
to the amount of license is also given
out as fact The object of officially
publishing the applications two weeks
before the licenses were issued evil
IDENTIFY was to give the public an oppor-
tunity to make objection to any diSrep-
utable or otherwise Objectionable ap-
plicant. According to the letter of this
law, no license can be issued until the
application has been published at least
two weeks before, and no man
can legally go on doing bust
ness without license. The
law of Senator Daniels (chapter 81 pro-
hibits the issuing of a license to sell
liquor in the large cities for any less
amount than $1,000. The last of the
batch of senate bills chapter 81 makes
it unlawful for the authorities to renew
any license for any less amount than
the legal license, and makes the public
officer who refuses or neglectS to do his
duty of enforcing the law guilty of
malfeasance in Office and liable to dis
qualification.
WHAT WILL BE DONE.
With all these points in view, the
query is: What will be the status of
the liquor business in st. Paul on New
Years day and afterward, until
two weeks after some applications shall
have been officially advertised? Mnst
the business suspend, or can it go on
without any point being raised as to its
deposit their 81, 600 in time? Or will it
be considered the right thing for a
saloOnkeeper to go on doing business
because he acted in good faith and,
under the circumstances, was compelled
to wait until the city council had fixed
the amount of license before he could
make his application?
Another point is this: The proviso of
section 3, chapter Senate File No. 80,
introduced by Daniels) reads
THAT no license shall be
granted for longer period than one
year, or for a period beyond twenty
days after the annual election in such
village or city next ensuing after the
date of such licenses" Does that mean
that the license issued on Jan. must
expire OH May %, the twenty days after
the spring election, and that the saloon
keeper must begin again to apply for
his license on May IA, and deposit an
other 81, 200 so that he can do business
for the remainder of the year? How is
strued? 1t is said that AttOr-
ney General Clapp will answer
these questions at some time or an
other. The intention of the law is gen.
orally conceded to have been to make
the license for the year 81 200, and good
for the year, and the period of the
license to last from annual election to
annual election, thus giving each new
council an opportunity to directly en-
force the law.
But there are two conflicting PROPOSE
lions in this, one to require $1,000 for
the full year, the other to make the
licenses date from the twenty days
after the annual election. May %, then,
must have been in Senator Daniels
mind as the date for annual
licenses in the city of st. Paul.
The city council Outdid him last
winter by its resolution continuing the
licenses over until Jan. l, thus thwart-
ing his intention to have the licenses
90 into effect this year on July l. Even
had the license law gone into effect
July /, 1887, would those licenses have
been legal after May 2S, 1888? Contrary
to the spirit of the law, this would have
made the $1,000 good for only a part of
the year.
If the matter can be settled this year,
the difficulty will be settled for long
time, for after this year there are to be
only biennial elections, and so
the provisO, in so far as
it relates to the time of
expiration of licenses twenty days after
the annual election will not apply to
this city. But practically the current
finances of the city date from the be-
ginning of the year, for to great eX-
tent the city depends upon its income
derived from the collection of licenses
to meet its financial needs, and all the
general appropriations have been used.
So, considering the city's financial
needs and the requirements of the law,
how is il possible to allow the liquor
business to continue without
the city first collecting the
81 600 license? Possibly the solution
of this problem is that the council will
meet on Tuesday evening, pass an ordi-
nance fixing the amount at $1,000, and
take the risk of any point being raised
as to the time of expiration twenty days
after the spring election.
The Daniels bill is very ambiguous on
this point, for to make the license good
from Jan. 1, 1888, until Jan. 1. 1889,
would be in accordance with one prop
osition of the prOvisO and contrary to
the other Some think Mr.. Clapp will
make the matter clear by deciding that
the compliance with either of
these propositions is carrying out
the law; should he decide
otherwise the salOonkeep2rS of st. Paul
may prepare to pay $1,000 for the privi-
lege of next years business. City At
torney Murray was hastily interviewed
IN regard to several of these points. He
said substantially;
ut is not true that the council con-
templates any action to bridge the mat
ter over until after the May election.
What the council will do is to simply
fix the amount"
"What amount?'
"Why, the law says the license shall
be 81 900, doesn't ity'
Eyes"
"Well, the council will now pass an
ordinance fixing the amount of the
license"
"Well, you can't make the amount
any less than S1,000?"
''Of course we can't; all the city
council can do is to meet and fix the
amount in compliance with the law.
The city attorney has no authority to
draft an ordinance for any less amount,
Al, FOL